I set Lukas up in the bathroom and leave him to shower while I rummage through my closet for something to wear. Comfort is the priority, I’m still too tired to deal with anything complicated. I settle on a black t-shirt that boldly declares, ‘Screw world peace, I want a pony,’ paired with hot pink leggings. Perfect. I add a pair of cute black ankle boots to complete the look and start working on my hair and makeup. Since I skipped my usual bedtime roller routine last night, my hair is a mess. Time to break out the curling iron. I briefly consider waiting for Lukas to finish so I can shower, but the effort sounds exhausting. Besides, I need the extra time to fix my hair. I figure I’ll shower tonight instead, once I’ve set him up with a movie or something to keep him busy so he isn’t awkwardly waiting for me while I go through my complicated moisturising routine. I hear the shower stopping as I finish up my hair and start to move onto my makeup. I’m fairly efficient at it by now, but it still takes a bit of time. My style isn’t exactly low maintenance. But it’s my time to spend and I enjoy putting in the effort. It makes me feel good. Once my eyeliner is appropriately dramatic and I’ve added at least three shades of eyeshadow and a bright pink lipstick, I slip on my glasses and call it done.
By the time I leave my room, Lukas is back on the couch, phone pressed to his ear, looking more than a little frustrated. He glances at me as I walk in, lowering the phone, and for a moment, his expression shifts to something… odd. Then his face twists into a frown.
“Come on.” He says, his tone completely deadpan.
“It’s not fair that you look like that while I’m all beat up and stuck in day-old clothes I slept in.”
I raise an eyebrow, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You really did take a blow to the head. If I didn’t know better, I’d accuse you of flirting with me.” I say, my eyes narrowed.
“I’m not flirting.” He replies immediately, still in that perfectly neutral, deadpan tone.
“I’m just being extra friendly to someone who looks extra attractive.” I continue to narrow my eyes, trying to decipher his tone or catch a clue from his expression. Nothing. His voice is infuriatingly steady, and his face gives absolutely nothing away. Is he teasing me? Does he actually mean it? What’s his angle here? In the end, I give up and turn my back on him, heading to the kitchen to feed Princess. Ugh. He’s so weird this morning. He was much easier to deal with when he was half asleep and just agreed with everything I said.
Once Princess is satisfied, I’m ready to deal with Lukas again. I’ve decided to assume he was messing with me earlier and just ignore his comment. After all, I already know he doesn’t think much of my colorful outfits. Sure, he SAID he doesn’t dislike them, but his initial objections are still stuck in my head. You don’t criticize someone’s look like that unless you mean it. He’s probably just saying nice things now because he’s worried I’ll kick him to the curb. He didn’t look or sound like he meant it anyway. When I return, Lukas is still on the phone, and judging by the sharp edge to his tone, it’s not going well.
“No, I don’t want to set up a new account or lock the entire account. I just want to lock the card itself.” he snaps, clearly trying to keep his temper in check. The person on the other end must not be helpful, because after a long pause and a stony expression, Lukas groans.
“Fine.” He hangs up abruptly.
“Let me guess. That was the bank?” I ask, leaning against the doorframe. He nods, exhaling in frustration.
“Yeah. They’re incredibly unhelpful. I think I’m going to have to go there in person to sort this out.” The way he says it makes it clear he’s dreading the prospect of dealing with the bank. Honestly, same. Now I’m going to have to go to the bank too, and I don’t even have an actual reason to be there. Ugh. I sigh.
“I guess we better get to the bank then. Who knows how long this is going to take. And you better figure this out, because dinner’s on you after the evening I had.” Lukas nods, his expression resigned.
“Right.” And just like that, he shuts me down with one word. It’s weird. I was all geared up to argue, to bicker, to blow off steam, but I can’t. He’s not biting. There’s no snark, no pushback, just quiet agreement. Damn it. He’s supposed to be a jerk. I already came to that judgement. Hmph… Well maybe he is still a jerk, he’s just demonstrating that he has some level of self control. I’m not the mind reader here. As long as he doesn’t say mean things out loud, I can’t prove that he’s thinking them. How irritating.
We spend the entire afternoon at the bank. By the end of it, Lukas manages to set up some digital card thing on his phone and locks down his accounts so his family, assuming they’re the ones with his cards, can’t touch his money. It’s a small victory, but it seems to lift some weight off his shoulders. Afterwards, we stop at a sandwich place for dinner, and as promised, Lukas pays. A little compensation for my suffering. Once we’re back in my car, I start the engine, only to realise I have no idea where we’re actually going now.
“Are we heading back to my place?” I ask, glancing over at him. Lukas hesitates for a moment before shaking his head.
“Could you drive me to my place?” I frown.
“Huh? I thought you couldn’t go there. You said your family might be waiting for you.” I remind him.
“They won’t recognise your car.” He explains.
“And I don’t actually need to go inside. I just want to stop at my neighbor’s place. I left something there.” He clarifies. I narrow my eyes at him. This seems like an unnecessary risk. “And whatever this thing is, it can’t wait?” I demand.
“No. It can’t wait.” He says firmly, his tone leaving no room for argument. I groan and lean back against the headrest, closing my eyes for a moment.
“Fine. But if we run into your family, I’m driving off without you.” I threaten. I mean it. Probably. His family drama really isn’t my problem. Currently he needs a babysitter, but I’m about ninety-eight percent sure he’s fine. If it weren’t for that nagging two percent of doubt, I could drop him off and wash my hands of this whole thing. Sigh.
I pull up in front of Lukas’s place, and wow… It’s a lot bigger than mine, that’s for sure. Fancy, too. Not surprising, I guess. Lawyers make way more money than the poor little IT girl, even though half of them can’t set up a video call without me holding their hands through the process. Lukas unbuckles his seatbelt and reaches for the door.
“Do you need me to come along?” I offer, not really eager but feeling like I should at least ask. He shakes his head and waves me off.
“No, I’ll be fine. It should only take a minute.” He replies. I nod and crank up the music as he closes the car door and strides toward his neighbor’s house. Injured or not, Lukas moves with clear purpose, whatever he is here for must be very important to him. Curiosity burns as I watch him knock on the door. What could be so vital that he’d risk coming back here? I try to imagine, throwing out wild guesses in my head. A document? A keepsake? A hidden stash of emergency cash? But when Lukas emerges a few minutes later and starts walking back toward the car, I freeze. My eyes widen in sheer horror. Out of all the things I could’ve imagined, I never would’ve guessed this.